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Tuesday, 4 June 2013

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

I stare at the drain in the center of the concrete floor. It was the first thing I saw when they locked me in this cell, and I’ve barely looked away since.

Pages – 362

Published by Bloomsbury in August 2013

Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn't happened yet. Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future.

*******

If you are planning to read this book, may I suggest buying some fuses first. Don’t raise your eyebrows at me like that! I can promise you if you read this book, your brain will blow a fuse. Seriously it has the most mind blowing plot I have ever read and so intricate; you wonder how the author managed to keep hold of all the threads. It was ingenious with a cleverly written plot.

The book has been described as The Hunger Games meets The Time Traveller's Wife, but I don’t think that’s accurate at all. It just doesn’t describe the epicness of this book. So in order to describe it you need to think films – great big mega busters. This book is Back To The Future meets The Terminator! There is humour and terror interwoven with fast paced action and tornado sized time loops that will leave you brain fried.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints but with a twist as you jump backwards and forwards in time. I honestly can’t tell you any more than that without giving secrets away. The plot is exceptional, one of the best time travel books I’ve read in ages.

The characters were awesome. Em and Finn are the Katniss and Peeta of time travel. As their past and futures entangle before exploding apart, you desperately want a happy ending for them. They are running out of options on how to deal with the past; their final choice will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Em is emotionally pulled towards Marina and will go to great depths to protect her. She is so mature for her age, treating Marina like a younger sibling. The changes between the characters of the past and future are intriguing and you find yourself desperate to discover what actually happened to make them so tough in the future. I'm amazed by the author's talent to create such intriguing and unusual conflict between characters

I’m stunned that this was written by a debut author as it is so well written. I can’t help but wonder what other books they have hidden up their sleeves. I only hope they have something amazing to follow this book as it really is outstanding for a debut. I was completely blown away by this book and can’t wait to read more from this author. An epic time travelling adventure that needs to be made into a film- a cinematic gem just waiting to be picked up.

3 comments:

Ahhh I am so glad you loved this one since it's sitting near the top of my TBR at the moment! It sounds absolutely amazing and any couple described as the katniss and Peeta of time travel will excite me. Sounds like it may hurt my brain though :P